


I Thought Maybe You'd Mean it

by SumDumMuffin



Category: RWBY
Genre: Acting, Casual Racism, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharks, Tsundere, unintentional arousal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 19:04:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6091000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SumDumMuffin/pseuds/SumDumMuffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Weiss needs someone to pretend to be her girlfriend when her sister comes to visit. </p><p>Monochrome/Checkmating</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Act 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own RWBY or any of these characters. They are a creation of Rooster Teeth and the visionary Monty Oum, may he rest in peace. 
> 
> I guarantee no expertise in Romance, dates, acting cute, upper-class family expectations, or manifestations of casual racism.
> 
> Assume that Qrow didn't intercept Winter when she stopped by in Season 3.
> 
> Nothing I write will ever fully encapsulate the sublime, multifaceted resplendence of the Monochrome Ship, but here's something trying to work a lighter version of the 'star-crossed interracial lovers' angle.

It was the end of her first year away from home, during the start of the Vytal festival, and Weiss already had a lot on her plate. And now she had to deal with _this._

Weiss hoped her nervousness didn't show. She'd quickly brushed off her dress, she'd made sure her posture was perfect and her hair was perfect and her diction and eye contact were perfect. Nothing intimidated a Schnee, after all.

Except, perhaps, another Schnee.

“Did you even make any friends during your year here?” said Weiss's sister.

“Of course.” Weiss said.

Winter raised an eyebrow. “Name one.”

“Ruby,” Weiss said, “We're the best of friends.”

“Right,” Winter said. She sounded incredulous. She took a moment to examine her nails, looking at Weiss from the corner of her eye. “What's her last name?” This was a test. 

“Rose.” Haha, easy.

“And her favorite color?”

“Blood red.” Also- easy?

“Favorite food?”

“Cookies.” Duh. 

Weiss blinked a couple times and smiled, hoping this was enough to appease her sister. 

“What's your favorite activity to do together?”

Crap. “...Dueling practice?”

“Excellent!” Winter said loudly. She patted Weiss's shoulder. “You've finally made a friend!”

Weiss knew Winter was being condescending, but she couldn't help but beam inside. For whatever reason, she valued her sister's opinion.

“But you could have made a single friend in Atlas,” Winter chided.

“I-I have more friends!"

“Yeah?”

“There's Yang! We're, like, two peas in a pod. We have the same taste in music.”

Winter relaxed. “Well, two friends is two more than we'd expected.” Winter smiled. “Glad to see you've overcome that antisocial streak. Maybe you'll overcome some other bad habits as well...”

Weiss forced herself to be calm. “I told you, my homosexuality is _not_ a phase-”

“Don't take that tone with me, Weiss,” Winter said. “If you are correct, then the facts will be sufficient proof. There is never a good reason to mouth off to me.”

Weiss folded her arms and frowned to the distance. She'd had this argument all too many times before.

Winter sighed. “You're not still hung up on that, are you? You may of course fool around with whomever you wish, but when the time comes to continue the Schnee lineage, it'll be much less expensive if we don't have to do the science baby thing.”

Weiss's cheeks tinted slightly. _That_ was a duty she hoped to put off as long as possible.

“I'm just saying,” Winter pontificated. “How do you really know you're gay if you haven't had a girlfriend?”

“Well, actually...” Weiss began. She had the inklings of a crazy, stupid idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Argh!” Weiss said as she opened the door to her room. She'd have to be quick; Winter expected her back within the hour. She turned to the blond and red-haired members of her team. “Ruby, Yang, I don't know how you do it.”

Ruby was currently oiling her weapon. Yang was playing a game on her scroll. “Do what?” said Yang.

“How do you two manage to get along?”

Ruby gazed impassively at Yang. Yang blinked a couple times at Ruby. Both of them turned to Weiss, and then back to each other. Then Yang giggled and Ruby chortled.

“Badly, sometimes,” Yang joked.

“Yang consumed the last cookie at Nora and Ren's birthday party, two weeks ago.” Ruby intoned facetiously.

“They were bad cookies. I was saving you from them.”

“Right after you also devoured the last brownie.”

Yang smiled a huge smile. “Those were very bad brownies. I had to slay them all.”

Ruby and Yang started making faces at each other. Weiss made a face of her own.

“So,” Weiss folded her arms. “Do either of you know where Blake is-”

“Hey,” said a voice from behind her.

Weiss flinched. Normally she'd be used to Blake dropping in like this, but the surprise visit from her sister had set her on edge.

Blake looked as powerful as ever- slouched slightly; ready to pounce, eyes lidded to give the impression (an incorrect impression, as Weiss learned) of inattentiveness. She flexed her muscles as she waited.

“I-” Weiss bit her lip. “I have a huge favor to ask you, Blake.” And it had to be Blake, Weiss told herself. She'd already told Winter that she was friends with Ruby and Yang.

“Alright,” Blake said. “Let's hear it.”

Weiss bit her cheek. Between the quiet bookworm, the rambunctious party girl and the supersonic rose-flurried fatalistic scythe-reaping goth cookie-monster, Blake seemed like the most presentable one of her friends, “S-so, we've been getting along better recently...”

Blake shrugged.

“And you're good at acting, right?” Weiss had just remembered Blake's history. As long as none of that came up, nobody should get killed in a rekindled grudge fight.

Blake's nostrils flared. “What's _that_ supposed to mean?”

“I- I meant, you've hidden that you're Faunus from everyone-”

“Because I was afraid of what people like _you_ would do if they found out!”

“Well,” Yang said, “She didn't really hide it that successfully.”

“But don't forget,” Ruby lamented at Weiss, “Blake also acted like she didn't hate your guts for like a whole semester.”

“Maybe she's still acting!?” Yang added.

“Ohhh!” Ruby and Yang pointed at each other.

Weiss glared at the two of them for a moment. “Thanks, you assholes.”

Ruby flashed her tombstone teeth. “No problem!” she said as cheerily as she could.

Blake had taken ten breaths at this point. “Don't worry; that's not true," she said to Weiss. Then Blake mumbled something. “So what's this all about, then?” Blake finished.

“Well uh,” Weiss began. It took her entirely too long to say the next part, “I have a sister.”

Yang and Ruby gave a collective “What?”

“I know,” Blake said.

Weiss scratched the back of her head. “Yeah, a while back you tried to have her assassinated-”

“ _I_ never tried to have her assassinated!” Blake yelled. She took a step towards Weiss. "Do you- Do you  _really_ think of me that way?" 

Weiss's throat caught. “Blake, I'm sorry-”

Blake touched her forehead. “No, I should be sorry. You're trying, and that's-” Blake bit her lip. “That's better than a lot of humans.”

Blake smiled apologetically, and Weiss shot a forgiving smile her way. It was cool how they were close enough that they could communicate non-verbally, Weiss thought.

“So what did you need, and what does this have to do with your sister?” Blake said.

Weiss took a long breath. At first, she couldn't make eye contact with Blake, but she found the courage to do so at the third try. “I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”

Blake's eye twitched as the rest of her froze.

“What?” Blake managed to say, eventually.

Ruby and Yang laughed their respective laughs, the assholes. Weiss flushed a little and decided to ignore them. 

“Just- for this afternoon, just until Winter leaves tomorrow-”

Blake's eye twitched some more. Her cheeks were tinting. “W-why do you need _me_ to do it?”

Weiss's expression flattened and she gestured to their other teammates.

“C'mon,” Blake said weakly, “Ruby's not _that_  messy-”

Ruby had cut herself on her scythe at some point, and some blood mingled with the oil and cookie crumbs on her face when she tried to wipe away a laugh-tear.

“And Yang's only _slightly_ inebriated-”

Yang had fallen off her bunk laughing.

Blake's neck shivered a little. “Maybe we can sedate Nora down to normal levels?”

“That'd only make her more powerful in the long run.”

“Or we could squeeze Juane into a dress?”

“He only does that for Pyrrha.”

“Hey, speaking of which-”

“She's too famous. Winter'll know.”

Blake shuffled uncomfortably. There was now definitely a blush on her face.

“I'll get you anything you like?” Weiss pleaded.

“I-I don't want anything-” Blake stammered.

“Please?”

“I-”

“Pretty Please?”

Blake threw down a smoke bomb.

A few minutes later, Weiss finished coughing and the smoke cleared. Blake was gone.

“Ah, Ninja's amirite?” Ruby chuckled hopelessly, “You just can't make them stay.”

 

 

 

 

 

It was a nice autumn afternoon; the leaves were rustling, the sun was out, the bustle of attendees at the fair hummed in the background. Not cold enough for a Schnee to be completely comfortable but not unpleasantly warm.

It wasn't enough to completely calm down Weiss as she met her sister for tea. Weiss was certain her voice cracked when they sat down and exchanged pleasantries, and she tried to maintain the illusion of attentiveness as Winter remarked on all the things she decided she disliked about Beacon.

“So,” Winter said at some point, “About that girlfriend.”

“Yeah, um, about that girlfriend?” Weiss said. She slumped into her shoulder-blades.

Winter raised an eyebrow.

“I- I might have been a little dishonest about the whole situation-” Weiss said.

Winter sighed that big, piercingly disappointed sigh. “Weiss, did you actually _lie_ to me?”

“I- no!” Weiss said reflexively. She wished she could throw down her own smoke bomb right about now. “I mean-”

“Weiss-y-poo!” said a cutesy contralto voice in the distance. Weiss reflexively straightened her posture at the sound of her name. It took Weiss a moment to realize the voice belonged to Blake-

Who was running towards them, one hand holding a wide-brimmed sunhat (with holes in which her adorable ears poked out) to her head, the other clutching a purse.

And Blake was dressed in a stunning black sundress; wide sleeved and low cut, showing off the muscle tone in her shoulders but covering up the worst of her scars.

Weiss realized her mouth was hanging open.

“Sorry I'm late!” Blake cooed. She walked up to their table and hugged Weiss's head, rubbing her cheek on Weiss's now beet-red forehead. “Sweetie-pie.”

Weiss was too … something to respond.

“Weiss!” said Winter. It broke Weiss out of her reverie. “I'm ashamed of you.”

“W-what?” Weiss's heart sank in reflex. What'd she do?

“You didn't think I'd like your girlfriend just because she's a Faunus? Not _all_ of them are like the White Fang, you know.”

This time it was Blake who froze, just for a moment. She then laughed awkwardly.

“Oh. Um.” Weiss said.

Then suddenly Winter was all smiles. She stood up out of her chair and walked up to and held a hand out to Blake. “We have one of you people running a plant on the western side of the continent. She's very hardworking!”

“Oh!” Blake only took a moment to take Winter's hands in both her own. “Ahahaha.”

"I'm Winter, but I'm sure Weiss has mentioned me." Winter smiled. "What's your name?"

Blake refreshed her smile. “Blake. Blake Belladonna.”

“Oh, Faunus have the loveliest names.”

“Oh! Um, thank you!”

“No, thank you for dating my sister! It's about time she's found _somebody,_ aha.”

Weiss chuckled awkwardly.

“About that- I'm really, really super sorry,” Blake said incredibly adorably (as in, literally incredibly), in a way that made Weiss's heart skip a beat and her breath catch. “But Weiss-y promised me she'd take me to the fair today.”

Winter turned to her sister. “Weiss!” she said disapprovingly, menacingly. Weiss flinched out of habit. “Did you schedule a date just to get out of meeting with me?”

“Uh- I-”

“That's profoundly disrespectful, Weiss. I expected better from you.”

“I- I'm sorry, Winter.” Weiss said to her hands.

Winter shot Weiss a parting glare before she refreshed her smile back at Blake.

“And I apologize, Ms. Belladonna,” Winter said, “But I'm only in town for the day and I really need to catch up with my beloved sister.” Winter opened her purse. “How much to reimburse you for your afternoon?”

“But,” pouted Blake, “Weiss-y _pwomised_.” The pout and kitty-eyes were aimed at Winter, but Weiss got caught in the blast radius; she felt a shiver travel outward from her heart and shudder into every centimeter of her aching body.

Winter almost pouted in sympathy. She cleared her throat. “Tell you what,” Winter said, “Why don't I take you both to the fair today? You can still get some quality time together and I'll catch up with Weiss on the in-between times. I'll pay for everything, of course.” Winter stood up. “Including our tea, which I'll do so now, so we can get started.” She gestured to the table before walking off towards the cashier.

Blake took a seat to rest. She smiled as Winter left, eyes closed and cheeks clenched.

Weiss leaned in so that only her 'date' could hear. “ _Why'd you tell her I tried to ditch her?”_ Weiss whispered as harshly as she could.

Blake's face transformed from cutesy-boop to unbridled rage in a blink. “ _You're mad at me?! I_ _was trying to get you out of this!”_

“ _You idiot! She already suspects something's up with me!_ ”

“ _I don't see how you_ _'ve got the short end here_ _,_ ” Blake seethed, “ _I just signed up to keep up_ _this horrible facade for an_ entire afternoon.”

 _“W-_ _w_ _hat's so bad about that?”_

Blake's eyes widened and she grit her teeth harder. _“Because_ _you and her are_ _freaking_ _Sch-”_ Blake closed her eyes and breathed. Her eyes hadn't softened by the time she reopened them. _“She's a_ _money-grubbing,_ _oblivious,_ _narcissistic_ _bigot,_ _I don't actually like you,_ _and_ _by the end of the date_ _I'm probably going to have_ _to perform_ _at least one smooch on your gross, stupid –_ snuggly wuggly face!”

Blake grabbed Weiss's head.

Weiss would later admonish herself for not realizing that, obviously, Winter had walked up just then and Blake was just acting, but in the moment she was a little stunned by the suddenness of Blake's persona change and the quickness of her pounce and also by the fact that Blake had just pulled Weiss in for a face full of cleavage.

Weiss was vaguely aware that her sister had said something through the thundering of her ears. Blake let her go, and Weiss managed to stay upright.

“So shall we get going? I think the aquarium's promising,” Winter said.

Blake shot one last split-second death glare towards Weiss before her cutesy face reappeared. She held out her hand to Weiss. “C'mon, widdle Weiss-y?”

Weiss had to shake her head to regain herself. Weiss took Blake's hand and only squeaked a little when Blake squeezed it as hard as she could.

 


	2. Act 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things get a little awkward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people might think this chapter needs a trigger warning for cruelty to pet fish. 
> 
>  
> 
> I claim no expertise in romance, sharks, racism, dancing, or music.

It was impolite to ogle your roommates. That was true in any situation, so Weiss definitely took that to heart when she'd moved in with Ruby, Yang, and especially Blake.

And before Weiss came out to them, she felt it was a little dishonest- taking advantage of them, even- to stare at Yang's chest or Ruby's legs or the rippling curves of Blake's torso <ahem> without them knowing. So of course she didn't. Nope. Never. 

And Weiss was a little afraid that they wouldn't look at her the same way once she came out. But it was with mixed relief that coming out had really only widened the variety of pranks Ruby and Yang played on her; immediately after Weiss's paralyzing confession, Ruby and Yang tried to corner her and facetiously (hopefully facetiously) asked if Weiss ever fantasized about sister-sister threesomes. Weiss screamed and jumped out the window and afterwards Ruby and Yang chased her around campus until she ran into Blake, who then gave them a stern talking to. That day was now the second most horribly uncomfortably aroused she'd ever been.

But the point was, there was absolutely no reason for Weiss to think that Blake's breasts looked bigger than normal; she had no previous metric, nope, not at all. It was just that now- like right now, as Blake had grabbed Weiss's arm in both hands- cuddling up to her as they walked- rubbing her breasts on Weiss's upper arm and shoulder and oh my now her cheek- they seemed a little bigger than she remembered. Weiss needed a distraction.

If only the ambient conversation didn't make Weiss want to jump out a window.

“No, of course it's OK that you're Faunus,” Winter said. Weiss cringed again. “I don't know why it wouldn't be."

“Oh you know," Blake threw a strand of her flowing obsidian hair behind her shoulder. "I just don't want Weiss's reputation to be ruined among you high society people." 

"I mean, sure," Winter shrugged, "Some people will complain. Father maybe even, but even he recognizes that some Faunus are virtuous, and you seem nice enough. And besides," Winter smiled wickedly, "If the new heir or heiress of the Schnee corporation is a half-Faunus, then, well! That'll shut those civil rights activists right up. Am I right?”

Blake tilted her head and her ears flattened. "New heir? Weiss needs to make a baby?" 

Weiss wondered if it would be uncouth to stare at Blake's breasts hard enough to drown out the conversation. 

"Eventually," Winter said, "But I hear they can fertilize eggs with non-sperm cells now, so it shouldn't be a problem." 

“Oh no, but a pregnancy would destroy little Weiss-y's poor hips!” Blake's hand crawled a couple inches down Weiss's side.

“Ah-” Weiss squeaked.

Winter smirked. "So you're offering to bear it then?" 

“I will gestate any number of Weiss's babies,” Blake said, right at Weiss. 

Weiss broke eye contact immediately. 

"Aw," Winter said, "How demure of you." 

“I-I-It's a little early to start thinking about that, don't you think?” Weiss managed to say to the ground. 

Winter chuckled. “Very well, change of subject then."

Weiss exhaled in relief. “Thank you."

“So do you carry a stepladder around, Weiss?” Winter asked, “Or maybe you're good enough at conjuring now to just will an ice pillar under your feet every time?"

“I- what?”

“You come right up to her chest. I imagine that makes smooching a little inconvenient.”

“S-she's in heels-"

“Or do you like that sort of thing?” Winter asked. “Her breasts being at eye-level all the time? I guess it might be something you'd like.”

“I- no-"

“You don't like my breasts?” Blake pouted.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

“I-” Weiss's brain (and probably some of her other parts too) felt like it was on fire, “I-"

"I think  _your_ breasts are really cute, Weiss-y-baby," Blake said.

Weiss's neck went limp as her head flopped to the side and her eyes unfocused. She shook her head and regained her motor control but not her speech. She heard Winter stifle a chuckle.

'Well,” Blake said, hugging Weiss again. “Weiss-y-poo's never told me what her favorite part of my body is." 

Right now? The curve of your shoulder muscles-

Weiss realized she was staring. She turned to ground and wondered if she could subtly freeze parts of herself, so that her dignity might survive the afternoon.

"Can we maybe resume talking about race relations?" Weiss mumbled. 

 

 

 

 

 

Weiss managed to survive the conversation until they made it to the aquarium. The institution in question had a moderate line at the front entrance. Winter stepped in line to buy tickets. Weiss decided to stand in line as well. Blake excused herself for the moment, rubbing her cheek on Weiss's head as she left. 

And Weiss definitely didn't stare at Blake's backside as she sauntered off. Nope. Nor was she mesmerized by the way Blake's tale flicked out under her sundress.

“So you're really dating _that?_ ” Winter said nonchalantly, gesturing to the last place Blake had been.

“Wha- what do you mean?" Weiss stifled a growing anger. “Is there something wrong with her-"

“No,” Winter said pointedly, “I mean she's too hot for you." 

“Wh- oh, _thank_ s,” Weiss said. She folded her arms. 

“Seriously, though. She's not a paid actor or something?”

“Of course not!” Technically not  _paid._  

"So an anti-social recluse like you managed to snag a gorgeous kitty bombshell like her?"

Weiss looked away. "Yes." 

Winter stared at her sister. “So what's her favorite color?

Crap. “White.” Maybe?

Winter raised an eyebrow. “Favorite food?

“Tuna salad.”

"That's so stereotypical."

"But- It's true though!"

Winter scrunched her face. "I guess that makes sense. Favorite activity to do together?"

“I-” Weiss bit her lip, “Well, we play a lot of chess." Weiss had been surprised when she found out Blake played, but the game soon consumed their free time together. They'd even named their combination attack after it. 

“Aw, she's smart too! Wow."

 Weiss had to stifle her anger again. "Did you think she wasn't?" 

“But that just leads back to the question of what she'd doing dating  _you,_ if she's so intelligent." 

"Yeah, I get it, I'm a terrible girlfriend," Weiss mumbled. 

Weiss knew better than to think Winter looked apologetic for a moment. "It's not just that she's out of your league. She's _all_ over you, _all_ the time; she's clearly head over heels for you, so to speak. I wonder what she sees in you?”

Weiss balled her fists. “L-lots of things! And maybe Faunus are just more openly affectionate." 

Winter suddenly furrowed her brow. “She's not trying to assassinate you, is she?”

“NO!” 

“Did you run a background check?”

“Of course,” Weiss lied.

Winter pulled out her scroll. “So you don't mind if I run one as well?" It wasn't a question.  

Weiss froze. Crap. Weiss had no doubts about Blake's sincerity in her reformation, but it was true that, yes, Blake used to be a terrorist-

“Hmm, fairly typical Beacon student," Winter mumbled. She continued to mumble neutral things. 

Weiss exhaled as quietly as she could. Of course Blake scrubbed her records before she started attending Beacon-

“Oh no!” Winter said. Her hand shot to her mouth. “She's an orphan? Poor thing. Makes sense though, what with rates of violence among Faunus.”

Except Blake's parents were killed by Schnee mercenaries in a protest gone bad. Weiss felt her eye twitch.

Winter's face went serious as she turned to her sister. “Weiss, you better treat her right.”

“Better than any other Schnee,” Weiss mumbled.

 

 

 

Blake rejoined the sisters at the entrance to the aquarium. The trio started walking along the first long tank to their right. A small school of minnows swam next to the glass at their pace.

Wiess tried to stare a hole in the back of her sister's head. Anger from the past conversation- from the whole day, from the last five years of her life- started bubbling up now, and not even Blake's awkward affection seemed to be calming her down. 

The school of minnows grew steadily bigger, before suddenly dispersing.

"Oh look!" Winter said, "A shark!"

There was indeed a shark. 

"It's missing a tooth!" Weiss exclaimed. She jumped on her heels, but only slightly. "It must have gotten in a fight recently!" 

"Yeah, or it's tooth would have grown back!" Winter said.

"Or," Blake said, "Maybe it just got back from the dentist." 

In a nearby tank, a starfish lost its grip on a mollusk it was trying to pry open. 

"I wonder how many different kinds of sharks they have here," Weiss said to Winter. 

"Let's find out!" Winter said to Weiss. 

They found a nearby fishkeeper and developed an itinerary. Blake glanced awkwardly between her date and her audience.

“So what are those fish in there with the sharks?” Weiss asked at some point. 

“Oh,” said the fishkeeper, “We put them in there so the sharks could hunt, but they all just wait until we feed them."

“Lame!” said Winter.

“ _Extra_ lame!” said Weiss.

“Are there any _real_ sharks here?”

The fishkeeper rubbed their head. “I guess the bull sharks eat live fish? If you want to stick around until 5:00-" 

“I don't suppose," Winter said to her wallet, "It would be possible to bump up the feeding time to, oh, let's say five minutes from now?” She twirled some Lien around her fingers. 

Weiss pocketed her wallet. She had had the same idea, but if Winter was going to pay the bribe, then cool.

The fishkeeper looked around and looked nervous and then accepted Winter's money and then disappeared for a bit. A minute later, a splash signaled that five or so dazed fish fell into the bull shark tank.

Some rather large bull sharks zoomed in around the fish, bumping them with their snouts for a second before suddenly biting into them and shaking them around as they messily devoured their prey. Puffs of blood mingled appeared before dissipating into the water. A couple other sharks came by to fight over the scraps. 

“Yeah!" said Weiss.

“Woohoo!” said Winter. 

Weiss turned to her sister. “That fish was all <ahhh>" 

Winter turned to her sister. “And the shark was all <Rrrgh>" 

They laughed at and talked about and stared in awe of the sharks for a while. Occasionally one of the murderfish stared back at the sisters. 

And when they found a bench, Winter tried to bribe three old folks out of their seats. Blake declined hers and bowed quickly and promised she'd be back soon.

Weiss breathed in, contented. Despite everything, she and Winter were family, after all. It was nice just sitting with her sister, even if they weren't talking. (Talking might make it not so nice, actually, aha). The sharks made it better too. 

And they eventually got up to see the rest of the tanks. Blake showed up a little later. She had her hands behind her back and leaned forward a little, rocking on her feet.

“Weiss-y baby,” Blake said to the ground. “I bought you something...”

Weiss cleared her throat and smiled as she forced herself to make eye contact.  

Blake held out a plush spotted tiger shark, at arm's length. She looked up with her eyes. “It's a sharky.”

“Oh,” Weiss said, “Oh no."

Blake's face fell. “W-what?”

“You didn't have to do that, Blake,” Weiss pulled out her wallet. “I trust you kept the receipt? How much was the toy?”

Blake's lower lip jutted out and quivered. “But Weiss-y-”

“No buts, Blake. I refuse to be a burden on you,” Weiss said, and then a lot quieter, “ _Especially for a fake date._ ”

And Blake's brow furrowed and she grit her teeth. Her voice became a low growl. " _Fine._ ” She whispered, shoving the shark into Weiss's face. “450 Lien. I hope it comes to life and eats you,” she spat.

Weiss caught the shark on the second try. It was just the right size to tuck into her elbow. Weiss stroked the plush around it's nose; it was soft, and it _was_ rather cute, now that she had a chance to look it over. 

Winter approached. "Aww, did Blake give you a sharky?" 

Wiess looked to her sister. "Y-yeah."

"It's rather cute," Winter said.

Weiss offered her sister the toy. "Do you want it?" 

Winter smiled and waved her hand. "No, you should hold onto it." 

Blake then grabbed her arm again. Weiss chanced at glance to her left- not at anything specific- 

And Blake was staring daggers at her. Weiss turned her head suddenly to the nearest fishtank. A crowd of fish dispersed. 

 

 

 

At some point, they got accosted by some fair salesperson. “Hey there young couple!" said the salesperson, "Would you like to try the hottest new attraction at the fair?" 

Weiss turned to the accosting salesperson, ready to say something. Instead, her expression flattened. 

“Yang, what are you doing-"

“A Tunnel of Love?” squeaked Blake-y- erm, Blake. “We'd love to! How much?”

“For the cutest couple at the fair? No charge!” said Yang In A Mustache. Weiss shot her an incredulous look. 

Blake turned to Winter, "This'll only take a few minutes-"

"Aww," Winter smiled. "You kids go ahead. I will peruse the gift shop."

Yang In A Mustache held open some pink curtains and beckoned theatrically inside. Blake pulled Weiss into the darkness. It turned out, this was the deep dweller section of the aquarium, so the lights were always turned down low. The entire hallway was thus poorly lit, completely empty, and decorated with pink hearts. There were rose petals all over the ground, like Ruby had shed her semblance over everything.

Weiss relaxed a bit and shook Blake off her arm. "We can stop pretending in here." 

Blake did so, after a moment's hesitation, and didn't say anything for a while. The shadow of something large loomed in an adjacent tank. 

“Your sister's a real piece of work,” Blake said eventually. 

“She's-” Weiss began. She rubbed the plush shark toy nervously. “She's spent the last five years in Atlas's military. It's not exactly a, uh, diverse or diversity-minded institution. Or one that values feelings or emotions or individuality. Or one that allows many home visits to your sister." 

They walked past a solitary pink snailfish, momentarily illuminated by a windowlight. 

"But she's a good person at heart," Weiss said.  

"I'm sure most people are," Blake said. "I guess I shouldn't take what she says so seriously." Blake turned to Weiss. "And you shouldn't either." 

Weiss eyed the empty hallway. "What?"

"You flinch whenever she insults you or implies something unsavory about you. But if you're right, then she doesn't mean you any offense," Blake said. She rubbed Weiss's head condescendingly. "You're looking towards her for approval but you don't need it; you're good just the way you are."

Blake took both of Weiss's hands in her own (causing the shark toy to drop to the ground) and stepped forward and smiled. "I know there's no doubt in  _my_ mind how amazing you are." 

Weiss's breath caught. She stared into Blake's wide, brilliant amber eyes for a moment, and then Weiss felt awkward and then looked down- _no don't look down-_ away, off to the side, she meant. Her heart beat in her ears and Weiss decided this situation was too dangerous.

Weiss pulled her hands out of Blake's and knelt down to retrieve the sharky. Blake didn't re-initiate the hand-holding and her smile faded. 

As they passed the anglerfish exhibit, Yang popped up with a camera. She then popped back down to retrieve her mustache and popped back up again.

"As part of the package," Yang In A Mustache said, "We'll take a picture of the lovely couple! Whenever you're ready."

Ah, that was the game then; to photograph Weiss in extreme embarrassment. Weiss steeled herself for the worst and nodded her assent. 

Blake suddenly pulled Weiss in front of her, hugging the shorter girl with the whole of her body. She ran her hands down Weiss's stomach, and-

Deeply and audibly sniffed Weiss's hair-

Weiss squeaked and hugged the sharky to her mouth in surprise. Then the camera flashed. 

It wasn't an entirely awful picture, through Blake's eyes were closed, with her nose buried in Weiss's hair; Weiss looked embarrassingly cute there, partially concealed by a plush shark. Winter mustn't ever see it. Also, they had gotten a rather confused anglerfish in the shot.

 

 

 

 "So," Winter said as Blake and Weiss returned, "I grabbed some snacks." 

In one of her hands, Winter had a couple fish-themed shirts and tchotchkes in a novelty purse styled to look like a shark's eggsack. Her other held out a box of fish shaped and fish flavored crackers, and a clear bag filled with water and four pet goldfish.

Weiss knew it had to happen at some point. It didn't mean she was prepared for it, or that she didn't flinch when it happened. She looked to her sharky for solace, but found none.

Blake's pulled her arms off of Weiss and stepped forward, her pupils shrunk and center of gravity lowered. "You think I eat  _raw fish?"_

Winter, to her credit, looked like she realized she did something wrong. "Well-"

"I am not an _ANIMAL_." Blake seethed. 

"That is not what I meant-"

"It is  _clearly_ what you meant;" Blake's ears stood up on end, "You bought crackers for you and your fellow human while you got _live pet fish_ for the  _Faunus-"_

"I believe you misunderstand my intent-"

"Oh you do? Would you expect a human to eat something so disgusting-"

Winter plucked a goldfish from the bag, snapped its spine, and swallowed it.

All of Blake's emotions were replaced by surprise and a little disbelief. Weiss's too. 

"Yum," Winter smiled her best smile. " _Everyone_  likes goldfish," Winter said. She held out the bag to Weiss. "You want one, Weiss?" 

Weiss returned to reality. She gently grabbed Winter's arm. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" 

Weiss led her sister a few meters away and brought her head in close. " _What was that?!_ " 

"Schnee's never show weakness," recited Winter. 

Weiss pulled her sister deeper into the huddle. " _So you weren't deliberately trying to insult her-_ " Weiss whispered. 

" _Of course not!"_   Winter whispered. " _Cats eat fish. It made sense at the time."_

 _"Blake's not_ literally _a cat-"_

_"I am aware of that, thank you."_

" _Are you?"_

 " _Yes!_ " Winter hefted the bag of goldfish. " _Now eat a goldfish in front of Blake so I can prove I'm not racist._ " 

Weiss stared at the bag. The goldfish glubbed at the edge of the bag, unaware and unconcerned. 

"No," Weiss said. She kept her face passive as she looked her sister in the eye. "This is your mistake. I'm not going to  _eat a goldfish_ for you." 

Winter blinked a couple times. She stood up straight. "You are correct. It's not fair of me to ask this of you." 

Weiss then blinked a couple times too. Did she actually win an argument with Winter?-

But now Winter had walked back to Blake and the two of them were in a dreadful face off. Weiss sweated, wondering if she should say something, or maybe just convince Blake to throw down a smoke bomb so they two of them could jet. But then Blake hugged Weiss in that awkward way of hers. 

"Weiss-y-poo! Your sister's so funny!" Blake said as she nuzzled Weiss's forehead. She smiled a genuine-looking smile. 

"Oh! Ahaha, thank you," Winter laughed. 

Weiss laughed nervously along.

"Aaand if we're all hungry," Weiss ventured, crushed under Blake's hug, "How about we go grab dinner?" 

 

 

 

Somewhere in a dark corner, two sisters argued.

“I should do it!” Yang whisper-yelled. “Weiss and I have the same taste in music!"

“But my idea will get them together,” Ruby whisper-yelled. She was better at it.

"I really doubt that."

Ruby breathed. She held out a hand. “Sister trust?”

Yang froze. “I- I mean, of course, if you want to invoke that."

Ruby spat into her hand. Yang did the same. They shook with a squelch.

"If you're wrong, you have to clean my motorcycle."

Ruby chuckled a hallow chuckle. "I'd do that either way." 

Yang grinned. "Then you have to eat broccoli for a week. Exclusively."

Ruby looked horrified. "Wh-  _Yang!"_  

"What? It's good for you." 

"But broccoli's  _evil."_

Yang smirked. "Then you better not be wrong." 

 

 

 

As a special event, one of the local restaurants had extended its outdoor seating to accommodate a stage. At the moment, it was a single musician playing light eating music, but a sign promised dancing music later in the evening. 

The sun was low in the sky when the trio took their seats. Blake propped the plush shark in their fourth seat, and nobody saw any reason to remove it before the end of thier dinner. Weiss ordered a salad, Blake a tuna melt, and Winter a chicken sandwich, all of which Winter paid a little extra to have expedited. The waiter looked a little nonplussed when their food arrived. 

Blake grabbed her sandwich and bumped her nose against it before she growled and bit into a large section and shook it around as she messily devoured her bite. 

Blake then opened her eyes and looked to Weiss. She swallowed.

“Just kidding,” Blake said. “I know how fancy humans eat." 

Blake placed her sandwich down on her plate theatrically and unwrapped her silverware. She tucked the napkin into her cleavage and, with her fork and knife, cut her sandwich into small, bite-sized pieces. She impaled a piece on her fork and placed it in her mouth.

“I was just going to say,” Winter said, having finished decimating her own sandwich, “One of the things Weiss is definitely good at is dinner etiquette, and she could offer you tips." Winter impaled a square onto her fork and chewed it and swallowed. "But it looks like you're already domesticated."

Blake's ears shivered and her eye twitched. Unrelatedly, at this moment the musician knocked over the microphone and feedback echoed through the ambient speakers.

“Oh, I'm sorry, that's a bit rude of me, isn't it?" Winter said. 

Blake refreshed her smile. “Just a little.”

"My apologies then." Winter said absently. 

"Apologies accepted," Blake stabbed a square of her sandwich with her fork and ate it.

Weiss found herself staring in disbelief at the scene. Winter _never_ apologized to Weiss.

Weiss stared at her salad as she ate in glowering silence.

"So how'd you two meet?" Winter asked at some point. 

"Bookstore!" Weiss said. She scrunched her face at Blake. 

Blake blinked a couple times. "Yes," she said, "We first met at a chance encounter at a local bookstore. We are also teammates, which is mostly how we know each other." 

Weiss shot a panicked look at Blake. She quickly swallowed her food and straightened her posture. Didn't Blake know what that would imply?

"Oh?" Winter said, "So you already live together? Must make having sex pretty convenient." 

Weiss had known this was coming, so she had made sure her mouth was empty. Blake, however, choked on her food. To her credit, she almost managed to cover it.

"Oh, umm," Blake began, patting her chest. She looked at Weiss, expecting a cue.

Weiss closed her eyes. "That's a little personal, Winter," she stated. 

Winter frowned. "Don't tell me you haven't gotten around to it yet. Blake seems perfectly willing," Winter leaned in towards Weiss. "You're not still a _virgin_ are you-"

"No!" Weiss lied, "No I'm not, not that it's any of your business." 

"Oh phew!" Winter turned to Blake. "For years we'd offered to bring in courtesans to help Weiss get past her little phase, but she always refused." 

Weiss flushed. She managed to keep her voice steady. "I was just waiting for the right girl."  

"Aww, that's super romantic, Weiss-y," Blake cooed. "I'm glad I was your 'right girl'." 

"So what made her the right one, Weiss?" Winter asked, seemingly polite. 

"Ah-" Weiss choked. 

"Well, Weiss-y's really reticent about her interests," Blake began, her voice a theatrical lilt, "But she _really_ likes it whe-

"Blake!" Weiss yelled. If Blake made up a weird fetish for her (or worse, guessed one of her real ones), and _told her sister,_  Weiss was pretty sure she'd instantly die.

Winter chuckled. Blake refreshed her Cheshire grin. "When I rub-"

"BLAKE!" Weiss stood up, leaning over the table. Her blush only grew when Blake and Winter devolved into stifled laughter. 

Blake stood up and rubbed her cheek on Weiss's forehead. "I guess that'll have to stay between me and Weiss-y-biscuit."  

"YES SOUNDS GOOD." Weiss sat back down and stared and picked at her salad for the rest of the conversation.

 

 

 

 

At some point, the bands finished switching out, and some sort of swing tune resounded through the afternoon air. 

Blake suddenly took Weiss's hand and pulled the heiress out of her seat- 

"It's dancing!" Blake said, "We have to dance, Weiss-muffin!" 

"I- I don't know-" Weiss stumbled. 

"Don't tell me you've forgotten how to dance, Weiss," Winter said, leaning back in her chair, "We spent all that money on lessons for you." 

So Weiss, with a wobbly mouth and a bit of nervousness, let Blake lead her to the dance area. It wasn't quite formal enough to be a dance floor.

The band finished introducing themselves and the song and the music started.

Weiss had been taught how to dance- well, only one type of dance. She'd learned to keep her posture perfect and her head high and not to smile and other ballroom dancing things. She'd learned how to lead a dance partner, in a ballroom-

Maybe she could still apply it here, though, even if the music wasn't at all similar. Even if she wasn't leading her dance partner; Blake had dragged her here and had been the first to place her hands on the other's waist and shoulder and stepped first when the music started.

So Weiss did her perfunctory stepping waltz, trying to keep her and Blake's bodies apart, and when Blake wanted to spin her or dip her or even pick her up by the waist, Weiss tried her best not to squeak too hard or let her face blush. 

And when the song was over, Weiss sighed in relief. She tried to step back enough to prompt Blake to let her go. Maybe that little dance would be enough to convince Winter.

 

Then, there beget silence.

And from silence there beget a bone-chillingly melancholic riff that resounded in the air. A G-major seventh, maybe, resolving into E minor. The hairs around Weiss's neck stood on end.

“Hello,” intoned a familiar voice.

 Weiss turned to the stage- she didn't have to see the face of the singer to know who it was. The long red cloak gave her away.

“This one goes out," Ruby sighed past the mic into her guitar, "To everyone's who's lost someone dear to them."

Chatter died down. The air felt heavier.

“For all those who've begged forgiveness from a silent void and found neither restitution nor closure." Ruby continued, strumming the riff again.

Slowly, with a strange rythme maybe, the rest of the band started up, a slow tune with long phrases and a deep beat. 

“So pour a drink into the dirt." Ruby whispered to her guitar. "Light a lonely candle in an unfamiliar night."

"Let's sing,” Ruby said, her voice almost cracking, “just a little requiem.”

Ruby added her own whispered dedication. The song traveled out from the band, burrowing through ears and tear ducts into weathered, cracking hears and broken throats.

“Ah!” Blake cried, “Weiss, hold me-”

“W-what?" Weiss said. She'd been looking everywhere except towards Blake- and now that she did, she paused, because Blake's saccharine face had vanished; she was crying-

“Can't you just hold me you idiot-"

Weiss clutched Blake to herself.  

Blake shuddered in her arms though the whole song. Weiss felt each choked sob and each sudden grip of her shoulders and head. The heiress distracted herself as best she could; Ruby had a surprisingly mellow singing voice, she noticed, and clouds were gathering in the twilight horizon. The dance floor was a little overgrown in places. Things like that, Weiss distracted herself with.

And eventually, with one last farewell, the song faded into oblivion and so did Blake's desperate embrace. Blake stepped back and withdrew her arms. Weiss exhaled. 

"I don't even remember what they looked like," Blake whispered. "My parents, I mean."

"I-" Weiss began. How should she respond to that?

“I-” Blake wiped her hand on her forearm. “Ruby's such a jerk. She knows what that song means to me. That wasn't supposed to leave our cry sessions.”

"Umm-" Weiss tried again.

“I'm sorry you had to see me like this,” Blake whispered.

“I forgive you,” Weiss smiled. “Wanna pretend this never happened?”

And Blake shot her a glare for a millisecond before she sighed. There was some atonal commotion on stage as the actual musicians ushered Ruby off stage. "Sure," Blake intoned.

 

 

 

When they returned to their table, Weiss saw that Winter's eyes were puffy, and she was dabbing her cheeks with a handkerchief. 

“Were you crying?” Weiss asked, appalled.

“Schnee's don't cry, Weiss.” Winter stated.

“Really?” Blake deadpanned.

“We can freeze our tear-ducts shut,” Winter said, rubbing her face bones. “Side effects include glaucoma and blindness."

Weiss frowned a little more. "Well you didn't do a very good job then; your cheeks are obviously wet." 

"I supposed you were a little young to remember Mother, before she was assassinated," Winter said to Weiss. 

_What._

Weiss's hands balled into fists. She spoke through gritted teeth. "How dare you- you don't think I cared for Mother-"

Blake put an anchoring hand on Weiss's shoulder. She smiled grimly at Weiss, and then turned to Winter. "Do you need a hug?"

"I don't need anything," Winter said, "But I suppose there would be no harm in a sympathetic embrace." 

And so they embraced, sympathetically. 

And Weiss's anger resurfaced. She vividly remembered the last time Winter had hugged  _her-_ because it had been five years ago-

"Weiss!" Blake said softly, "Huggies!" 

Winter held out her arm as well.

And then, nestled in that three-person hug, Weiss vowed to learn that tear-duct freezing technique. 

 

 

 

 

After dinner and the dancing and the hugging, the evening was coming to a close, and the last vestiges of twilight were fading. It was time to walk back to their dorms and then finally, _finally_ say goodbye to Winter. And maybe take an ice cold shower. Probably endure endless teasing from Ruby and Yang. And the start of being unable to look Blake in the eye forever. Weiss distracted herself by rubbing the toy shark nestled in the crook of her elbow. 

“Well, I didn't' get the chance to tell you all about what Atlas is up to,” Winter said to Weiss, “But it was more fun than I thought it would be." She turned to Blake, “And I'm really glad I got to meet you, Ms. Bellladonna." 

“Oh, likewise," Blake smiled, "And please, call me Blake."

Winter playfully elbowed Weiss. “Or maybe I'm going to have to start calling her Mrs. Schnee sometime soon, huh?"

Blake chuckled.

“I- I, _Winter!_ ” Weiss squeaked.

Winter laughed. "Now excuse me for moment," she said, "I see one of those proletariat 'convenience stores', and I hope their namesakes aren't just clever misdirection."

And Winter absconded. 

Blake pulled Weiss by the hand to a nearby balcony, overlooking the town.

“The sunset's pretty beautiful,” Blake said, leaning forward on a concrete railing.

Well that was out of nowhere. Weiss turned and leaned on the railing as well. The sun was peaking, just barely, above the slope of a distant peak, painting the nearby sky in brilliant reds and oranges. “To that, I agree," Weiss said. 

“But,” Blake said, a little shakily, “Do you think there are more beautiful things?” Blake turned to Weiss.

Weiss cleared her throat and avoided eye contact. “I'm sure that is an open argument.” Weiss pontificated, “A lot of people believe beauty is a metaphysical feeling-"

“I think you are, Weiss,” Blake stuttered, “More beautiful than the sunset, I mean-”

And before Weiss could respond, Blake was smooching her.

Weiss made a surprised moan and instinctively took a step back. Blake's upper body followed her, so that Weiss was pressed back against the balcony and Blake was leaned over her. 

Blake's lips were gentle and warm and needy as they trembled, pressed against Weiss's.

“Mmprh!” Weiss emitted. 

Winter must have come back, so Weiss would have to weather the kiss as best she could.

Weiss tried to distract herself from her arousal. Closing her eyes was no good, so she tried to look at the town through the corners of her eyes. She may have tilted her head too much though, because it prompted Blake to pull back.

“Weiss,” Blake breathed before she resumed the onslaught, clutching Weiss's sleeves, but just barely, like she was afraid to grab Weiss. Weiss took that as a cue not to grab Blake back. Weiss leaned back- far enough to need to hold onto the balcony for balance; Blake was pressing against her harder, with all of her body.

“ _Weiss,”_ Blake breathed again, a little more forcefully, more urgently. 

And then Weiss's mouth was again filled with Blake's upper lip. The taller girl's tongue brushed against her teeth and Blake let out a pained moan, one which took all of Weiss's discipline to ignore-

And then Blake broke off. “Weiss you _stupid idiot_ -” Blake sobbed, “You're just like your sister-”

“What-!?” Weiss said angrily.

And then Blake was gone. Smoke bomb. 

“W-what?” Weiss said, shakily. Outdoors, the smoke dissipated away before she had a chance to cough in any of it.

Weiss looked down into the empty streets; the fairgoers had dispersed already, and the sun was in the last moments of setting, casting dark shadows across the cold cobblestones and rough buildings and lonely foliage.

“Ahahahah!” came a hallow laugh. “Can you feel it?" Ruby said, jumping up onto the balcony from the lower level. "The futility of sapient understanding? Especially with ninjas.”

Ruby dodged an icicle from Weiss, which only made her laugh louder. She hid and became silent when Winter came back.

"So I admit I don't know much about how you people perform intercourse," Winter said to the stack of items in one of her arms. She had an iced beverage in her other hand. "But I purchased several extra large dental dams and some antibacterial lubricant for you and-" Winter looked up, "Where's Blake?" 

"She's gone," Weiss said weakly. 

"What'd you do?" Winter said. "Did you say something-"

Weiss turned to her sister. "What did _I_  do?" she snapped. " _You've_  been saying the most insensitive shit ALL AFTERNOON _."_ Weiss knew that yelling at her sister was a bad idea, but she couldn't stop. "I'm my own person, Winter, and Blake's more than just her race and she has _none_ of the flaws you're trying to attribute to her and- and-"

"And I have to go after her," Weiss concluded. She turned to the darkness and started running, as much after Blake as away from her sister, and the situation she'd spent the whole afternoon hoping wouldn't come to pass. 

Ruby reappeared besides her, skipping, hands limp on her scythe resting across her shoulders. "Keep chasing that illusion, you naive little thing," Ruby laughed. 

Weiss bit her cheek. "Did you see where she went?" 

Ruby smiled as best she could; barely. "Right behind you," she pointed.

Weiss skidded to a stop and scanned the empty streets fruitlessly-

"Ahahaha!" Ruby laughed, "That would have been funny if it were true-"

"You asshole," Weiss snapped, "This is important!"

Ruby stopped laughing. She darted into a nearby alley. Weiss followed her-

And Ruby hooked her arm around Weiss's and spun the heiress a couple times. Then next thing Weiss knew, she was hurling through the air in a petaled vortex before landing on a rooftop with some bumps, but other things were more important now.  

Blake was on the other edge of the roof, softly sobbing. 

Weiss took a breath and tried to think of the right thing to say. 

"Don't forget this!" Ruby said in the distance.

A plush shark hit Weiss in the head. 

 

 


	3. Act 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Blake and Weiss's date is concluded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus begins the start of the rest of my life thinking of awesome fish puns or fish symbolism and regretting not coming up with in time to put them in this fic.

Blake had had a crush on Weiss for the stupidest time. Sometimes she'd even admit it to herself.

She'd grown up hating everyone in the Schnee family, and even after she'd left the White Fang, and met a Schnee in person, she'd discovered that the terrorists weren't completely wrong; Weiss flaunted her money too much and couldn't handle other people being better than her and spent entirely too much time being a little too self conscious about her scar. Psh. Blake had shown Weiss her own collection, and from then on Weiss only inspected the single mar upon her flesh when she thought Blake wasn't looking.

So yeah, Weiss was shallow and vain and (for the first few months they'd known each other), kind of racist-

But also lost, and hopeful, and smart and driven and potentially- when she wanted to be- thoughtful and sweet.

And when Blake revealed herself as Faunus, she didn't expect Weiss to just ignore it, but she'd hoped it wouldn’t hurt her relationship with the heiress. It was something Blake worried about a lot. It took Weiss a day to accept it – to accept her – but she did, eventually, and they were back to passive-aggressive flirting by the next weekend. 

And when, one day, Weiss barreled into her arms one day, crying, with Ruby and Yang at her heels, because Weiss had had the courage to come out, Blake had felt protective and maybe a little possessive as she told off the other half of her team on behalf of the little heiress in her arms.

Ruby and Yang caught on after Blake repeatedly tried to get them to ease up on the team ice mage.

"Oh?” Yang had said way back then, “Why, do you _like_ Weiss?"

"Do you _like like_ Weiss?” Ruby had said way back when.

“ _No,_ ” Blake had said, but everyone knew it was a lie. “Weiss is stupid and gross and I don't like her.”

But that got Ruby and Yang to be slightly lesser degrees of asshole about the situation. To Weiss, she meant; after that, they endlessly teased Blake about her crush, with no mercy. 

But her kindness paid off; Weiss eventually examined her prejudices and she noticed when Blake was upset and she got Blake that nice elemental dust magazine for their fight on the train and she put up with Blake's anger issues and it turned out they had a lot in common, like chess and literature and disliking their roommates too much sometimes and tending to get too wrapped up in arguments- which they still had, but they were definitely getting along better. 

Blake got really defensive about it- she and Weiss were friends now, right? Whenever that friendship got called into question- whenever Weiss felt that maybe Blake still hated her, Blake wanted to scream as loudly as possible NO, of course not- no, and how could Weiss even think that, the idiot. It had happened early that day, and it wasn't Blake's finest moment. 

And remember about Yang and Ruby endlessly teasing Blake about her crush?

“But don't forget,” Ruby had lamented at Weiss, “Blake also acted like she didn't hate your guts for like a whole semester!”

“Maybe she's still acting?!” Yang had said.

“Oh!!” And Ruby and Yang pointed at each other.

Blake shuddered and did her anger management exercise.

“Don't worry, that's not true,” Blake then said to Weiss. And a little quieter; “I actually like you a lot.”

Luckily, Weiss didn't seem to hear that last part.

And then Weiss asked Blake if she could pretend to be her girlfriend. Blake's heart almost stopped.

Why would she do that? Why would she need _her_ specifically?

Honestly, why would the richest, most beautiful girl in their year want some mangy Faunus runaway to pretend to be her girlfriend? Surely there were more impressive girls if Weiss just wanted to make a good impression- Yang could make friends in an instant, and Ruby was the best supersonic fatalistic rose-flurried scythe-reaping cookie-monster in their school's history, to just name two potential alternatives. 

Blake voiced some of her protests. But Weiss insisted- after everything- was even willing to offer anything,  _anything_ (but the only thing Blake wanted was Weiss), so she really meant it-

So Blake fled; it was what she was good at.

And she found a corner to slump against.

And then she giggled.

And then she laughed.

Weiss wanted _her_ to pretend be her girlfriend. _Her_ specifically.

Was this her karmic rebate? Or did Ruby or Yang set this up? It didn't matter; Blake decided. She had a nice dress stashed away and Ruby and Yang owed her a few favors and she'd turn this fake date into a real one; the one that would start their relationship.

Blake tidied up as best she could; with the dress and the hat and practicing real quick to talk cutesy and making sure her eyes were nice and big and looked attentive.

And the ensemble had the right effect- Weiss was _stunned_. That was so gratifying.

And Blake tried to help Weiss out by suggesting that Weiss couldn't hang out with Winter today because they had planned a date- and maybe once Winter left Blake'd tell Weiss that, hey, they might as well go on that date (hopefully Ruby and Yang could rustle up something romantic; blackmail last-minute fancy dinner reservations, maybe), just in case Winter showed up sometime, and hey, if they had to kiss to make it real, well, they'd have no choice, right? -

But Weiss was mad at her for suggesting that. Weiss didn't think Blake was date-able.

And that set Blake's anger issues off again. How could Weiss be so insensitive? Whatever. Weiss was gross and dumb and maybe Blake didn't even like her.

Oh, but who was she kidding? She kept flirting harder and harder the entire afternoon, and she'd tried really hard to make nice with Weiss's family so Winter'd like her-

And Winter! Talk about everything wrong with the Schnees; it was like almost everything that came out of Winter's mouth was racist or selfish or belittled Weiss-y-poo in some way. But not enough to, say, trigger a grudge duel to the death from the latent part of Blake's psyche. They'd tried to kill each other, indirectly, in previous lives, but that was in Blake's past. Now they were potential in-laws (but that was getting ahead of themselves, Blake reminded herself.)

And the worst part was that Winter probably really thought she was being nice. And maybe she intended to be, but she was about as careful with the unintended consequences of her words as Weiss was for the first six months they knew each other. Winter was just too self-absorbed to care. Typical Schnee. But as Weiss did her best to ignore Blake's affections, Blake begrudgingly felt it was gratifying that at least one Schnee was open to their relationship.

 

 

Blake had her first chance to scheme when Weiss and her sister were in line to buy tickets. Blake sent a message on her scroll and snuck into the aquarium to where Ruby and Yang said they'd be; a corner between ceiling lights, where drifting azure shadows reflected from the tanks brushed across their schemings. Blake felt a little more at ease as she nestled herself in the shadows.

Ruby was leaned on her scythe, eating a cookie. Yang was trying to stand up straight, holding some bottles and ovoids.

“Ok,” Yang said, “It's raw eggs and staying hydrated, right?”

“For alcohol?” Ruby intoned.

“Not for alcohol.”

“Then no, raw eggs and staying hydrated won't work.”

“Shoot,” Yang said. She dropped an eyedrop in her eye, turning her sclera white as she blinked. “It's okay, though. I feel fine. I feel great. Completely ebriated. We can totally help Blake out with her doomed crush.”

"Doomed!" Ruby chortled.

“Hey,” Blake said. They noticed her now. Yang spilled some egg on herself.

“Hey Blake!!” Ruby said. She turned to Yang. "Always right behind us, right? It's funny." 

“So did you-” Blake began.

“We have indeed found a way to sneak in,” Ruby explained.

Obviously they found a way to sneak in; that wasn't what Blake was going to ask.

“Yeah, we got volunteer jobs selling popcorn for today,” Yang continued to explain the unnecessary.

“But we're not going to sell any popcorn.” Ruby said.

“Not with that attitude we're not!” Yang said.

“Oh!” Ruby and Yang pointed at each other.

“Guys,” Blake seethed, “This is serious!”

“Ok, ok,” Yang said, waving her hands.

“We can block off the deep sea exhibit and sell it as a tunnel of love.” Ruby said. “Yang thinks that'll work.”

“I cut a lock of Ruby's hair for a fake mustache,” Yang said. “We also procured some steel drums-” which she had out in front of her.

“And a ukelele-” Ruby said, pulling the instrument out.

“For when you walk through, so we can sing a song to make you two fall in love!” Yang said.

They played a happy melody in C major. “ _Sha la la la la la my oh my-,_ ” Ruby and Yang began-

“No!” Blake said, her face reddening. “Don't do the song! That's too embarrassing.”

“Oh, fine,” Ruby said, “But at least one of us can totally sing a song to make you fall in love.”

“Maybe later,” Blake said. She'd regret saying that.

 

 

Blake snuck back out so Winter could pay for them to get in legally. She attached herself to Weiss's arm again (in the process getting rewarded with an adorable eep from the heiress).

The aquarium was okay, as far as entertainment went. Blake completely failed to find anything compelling about the catfish (she felt like she was supposed to), and it turned out that starfish were alive but just really unmotivated, and the biggest disappointment was that no matter how hard Blake tried to hug her or snuggle her, or create little 'accidents' so that Weiss could feel her up a little, Weiss-y just stared at all the stupid fishies- er, fish. And the fact that Blake was waiting for her plan to come to fruition made every meander through glass walls holding limbless aquatic craniate animals all the more excruciating. She'd read all the informational plaques like three times by the time Ruby sent her the confirmation text, and she ducked out.

She took a moment to watch the the two Schnees seem marginally like a normal family when they were dorking out about the sharks. Weiss looked content, and Winter looked normal. Blake tried to enjoy that, for Weiss's sake.

 Blake stepped back into a comfortable shadowy corner of the building. Only Yang was there, and Blake didn't get the drop on her. 

“Hey Blake,” Yang said, “Hows the Weiss-bucket challenge?"

Blake's nose twitched. “Weiss-y-bucket's being a _huge jerk_ and I've reconsidered my crush on her.”

“Oh.” Yang scrunched her mouth to the side. “Really?”

Blake sighed. “No, not really. I'm hopeless. It's all hopeless.”

“Oh, uh,” Yang said, looking everywhere except at Blake. “I don't think you should give up, you know? And uh,” Yang scrunched her mouth to the other side. “What's Y.C. stand for again?”

Blake shot her a look. “Are you _sure_ you're fit to help me out today?"

“What? Yeah. Yeah, totally.” Yang cleared her throat and slapped her cheeks twice. “I just didn't think I had to do anything this afternoon, but that was, like, hours ago-"

Ruby appeared, a couple errant roses clinging to her cloak. “Now it's _my_ turn to drop in right behind you, heh?”

Yang smiled. Blake didn't.

Ruby frowned. “What's wrong?"

Blake's nose twitched. “I don't think Weiss-y likes me."

“Then she's an idiot.” Ruby said.

Blake chuckled with Ruby's laugh. Yang made a silent 'oh' mouth in dawning comprehension.

“Weiss, yes. I agree that she is an idiot,” Yang said. 

“Anyway,” Ruby flashed her candy-coated tombstone teeth, “Tunnel's all set up now. She'll like you after your harrowing, romantic journey through the darkness, for sure.”

“Ok, sweet. And umm.” Blake said. She pouted a bit and rotated her shoulders around; she'd been seven the last time she'd tried this exact technique. “Can I borrow some money?”

Without saying anything, Ruby and Yang emptied their pockets into their palms. Yang held out some lien amid a few condoms and some thin paper strips and her motorcycle keys. Ruby held out some lien amid a few pieces of candy, a pair of earbuds, and a stale, crumbling cookie. She plucked the cookie out and ate it.

“You're going to buy Weiss something?” Yang asked.

“Yeah,” Blake said, “She likes sharks.”

“Ooh!” Ruby intoned earnestly, “Live sharks!! Super romantic.”

“I was thinking more like a toy shark,” Blake intoned facetiously.

“Also romantic.” Ruby nodded. They walked over to the souvenir stand and surveyed their options.

“You gotta go for the great white,” Yang said, “It's the most popular shark.”

“Which means it's the one that Weiss most likely already has,” Ruby said, “Like, possibly for reals.”

“Hmmm,” Yang twisted her mouth, “Good point, yeah. She probably has a tank of them to feed her enemies to.”

From a previous life, Blake seemed to recall a shark tank on stolen floorplans of the Schnee mansion.

“That's why you gotta get the cookie-cutter shark.” Ruby said.

“That's the creepiest one!!” Yang said.

“It's got big cute eyes.”

“It's got big _creepy_ eyes.

“And it has lots of cute teeth!!”

“Goths,” Yang rolled her eyes at Blake. “Always liking the weird stuff, amirite?”

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Yang. Yang reciprocated.

They argued for a bit, so Blake ducked out and chose the tiger shark. Mostly because it was labeled a 'tiger' shark. It was _really_ expensive, compared to what Blake usually spent on anything, but it'd be worth it, Blake told herself. She'd owe Ruby and Yang some weird favors probably, but Blake just thought of Weiss receiving the present and thanking her- maybe with a hug and a smooch on the cheek-

Well, time to make fantasy a reality. Blake put all her hopes and dreams and feelings and fantasies into the shark.

And she held it out-

And Weiss spat it back in her face. Blake's anger issues surfaced again.

Blake took ten breaths while Weiss took her receipt to the cashier to try to get the purchase funded to her card, and when she opened her eyes-

Winter was looking at her.

Blake refreshed her smile, and shifted back into moeblob mode but apparently not in time.

“So you're _not_ that saccharine all the time,” Winter noted, “I think I trust you a little more now.”

“I-” Blake sighed. “I just want to make a good impression.” It wasn't a lie.

“Well, you've already proven that you're wonderful wife material.” Winter said, “You can stop pretending if you want.”

Blake blushed a little. “I kind of like it- being cute for her, I mean.”

Winter scrunched her face. “Must be nice, being able to do that. I wish I could.”

"Well why don't you, then?"

"I can't." Winter said. 

Blake didn't respond. The silence became awkward.

Winter coughed. “It's really rude of her to spit an expensive gift like that back in your face like that. And can you believe she offered to give it to _me?_ Ugh. Weiss can be kind of insensitive sometimes, I know.”

Oh, _Weiss_ can be insensitive? Outwardly, Blake just said, “Yeah.”

Winter shot Blake a smile. “But now I know you're not just dating her for her money. I worry about that all the time.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

The silence resumed being awkward.

Winter frowned. “I'd _though_ _t_ Weiss knew the importance of money. When people spend significant portions of their money on something, it makes it _special._ It won't mean the same thing if Weiss just goes up and buys it.”

Blake caught herself agreeing with a Schnee.

Winter smiled grimly. “Don't take it personally, though,” Winter said, “Weiss means well, and I can tell she likes you.”

And Blake decided that maybe sometimes Winter wasn't that bad after all, possibly, but this was before the goldfish incident.

 

It was easy enough to get Weiss into Yang's 'tunnel of love', though the actual attraction was a complete wash. Blake wondered if maybe it might have worked if she'd let Yang and Ruby sing their cheesy song. Originally she didn't think she'd need to be that obvious, but then Blake complimented Weiss _directly to her gross stupid face_ and she just _looked away_. Without even saying anything! Arrgh!

Blake's anger flared up again, but then it turned into despair; Weiss didn't like her the same way. Sure, she was attracted to her, but she'd react the same way with Ruby or Yang or Nora or Juane in a dress (ok, maybe not that last one), but she didn't feel anything for Blake, specifically.

Well, Blake sniffled. She'd just have to work a little harder to change that.

And maybe, possibly, the tunnel attraction wasn't completely a wash; Weiss smelled nice, and their picture was super cute.

 

 

And then right afterwards, Blake got to have all her slow built goodwill towards Winter dispelled. She took ten breaths again, and with her clear mind she figured if Winter would rather eat a pet than reconsider her views on race, then Blake wasn't going to successfully overhaul the officer's political views during an afternoon when she was preoccupied with trying to seduce her sister. All in time, maybe once they were married.

And _that_ was a fantasy Blake had never thought to indulge before. Curse Winter for continually bringing it up; Blake couldn't focus on the actual date when she was thinking about what kind of cake they'd have and what dress she'd be wearing- or maybe a nice woman's tuxedo? Like, she could dress in white and Weiss could wear this elegant black dress that flowed over her while they danced their first dance-

But enough of that. Cart before the horse and all, though they did actually go dancing later that night.

 

 

Lunch was fun. Blake always liked teasing Weiss, and her face when Blake was about to make up some sexual fetish for her (something about buttered shark fins, Blake thought)- it was great. It was an unfortunate trait she shared with Winter, it looked like.

And the dance- Blake practically had to beg Weiss to live that fantasy, and Weiss-y was nervous the whole time. Blake tried to ease her into it, but Weiss was stiff and formal and looked everywhere but her partner the whole time. They'd been perfectly in sync during their combination attacks; surely a little slow dance shouldn't feel so unnatural?

And then Ruby made good on her promise to sing a song for them (did her scythe also transform into a guitar or did she just have a scythe-shaped guitar lying around?) but she sang the most awkward song; the last vestige Blake had of her parents, and Blake had cried in front of her crush; not her most dignified moment, to say the least.

Maybe it was for the best that Weiss just brushed it off, that they didn't form any close emotion bonds about it.

But the song worked with Winter though, so maybe Ruby wasn't completely crazy. 

 

 

And then it was the end of the day- Winter would walk them home and say goodbye and then they'd stop being a couple- Blake was running out of time-

And she should have known better- she'd stopped believing in fairy tales when she gave up on Adam- but true love's kiss was supposed to make everything _right_. It was supposed to be the happily ever after-

But Weiss didn't kiss back.

Weiss didn’t' feel the same way.

The revelation sunk into Blake's abdomen like poison. That tingling in the back of her heart was right- everything that happened, all afternoon- there were _signs_ , there was everything to suggest that Weiss was exactly the gross, stupid idiot that Blake should never have fallen in love with-

So Blake ran. It was what she was good for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weiss balanced on the roof shingles as best she could and walked over to her teammate. 

Blake was still sobbing. She'd pulled some tissues out of her bra and was blowing her nose on them and dropping them off the roof. She didn't seem to see Weiss approach.

Weiss placed the shark between her and Blake. Blake flinched.

Weiss found her throat and mind clear enough to speak on the third try.

“I think I'm going to name it Checkmate,” Weiss said to the horizon, “Like our team move?”

Blake didn't say anything.

Weiss picked up the shark. “Tiger sharks don't really have any sexual dimorphism, so it could also be, like, 'Mr. Jaws' or 'Dame Bitesmore of the Open Maw', instead..."

Weiss went on for a little while, but Blake didn't respond. At least she stopped crying. 

"Blake," Weiss said at some point. "Talk to me."

Blake sniffed one more time. “I know this was supposed to be fake but I thought,” Blake said, turning to Weiss. Her eyes were still wet and puffy and her nose twitched involuntarily, “Maybe you'd mean it, by the end. If I showed you how good a girlfriend I could be, and how much I really did like you.”

Weiss bit her lip. “Blake-”

“But you're so _stupid.”_ Blake said.

Weiss dropped her jaw in indignation and had to manually reset it. “Alright, I probably deserved that.” Weiss smirked. “I'll let it slide just this once.”

Blake didn't say anything.

Like, for a long time.

Weiss grew more cross. She cleared her throat. “So, what did you say about me being like my sister? Because she's a _terrible_ person and we are nothing alike-"

“You're self absorbed, and you throw around your money, and you can't see how you affect other people, and you both purposefully supress your emotions so that you seem 'strong'.” Blake said.

She turned to Weiss.

“You're both _cold."_

In the distance, Ruby snorted. Weiss shot an icicle in the general direction.

Weiss turned back to Blake and coughed. “Ok, yeah, I get it, I'm a terrible girlfriend. But I have to protest some of those descriptors." 

“At least you're trying to examine your biases. That's something,” Blake intoned to the horizon. “I guess I can't expect you to be all that great, so soon." 

"Hey!” Weiss said, placing her fists on her hips. “What about you? You've been embarrassing me in front of my sister the whole afternoon!”

“I was trying to get you to notice me!"

“Did you _really_ need to go as far as you did?”

“If you'd responded I wouldn't have felt the need to go so far!”

“And why were you even doing that in the first place?"

“ _You_ asked me to be your girlfriend!” Blake yelled.

“Well what a stupid idea that turned out to be!” Weiss yelled back.

“Yeah, you stupidhead!”

“Well, you're stupid too!”

“Fine!”

“FINE!”

Weiss puffed out her cheek. Blake's face was a similar contortion of indignant rage. 

Blake turned away to take ten breaths. Weiss turned away because it felt weird staring at someone who had their eyes closed. 

They watched the stars come out for a while more; growing brighter as the clouds dissipated. 

Weiss breathed in the cold night air and tried again to break the silence. 

“That was my first kiss, you know,” Weiss said.

“Psssh,” Blake said, “You call that a kiss? You were a complete dead fish."

Weiss's face heated up. “Ok, fine, but that was  _just_ because I was nervous-"

Weiss turned to Blake and saw the taller girl was already staring directly at her, hopelessly expectant, with a little moisture in the corner of her eyes still.

Weiss closed the distance between their lips. She held them there for three seconds, and then leaned back. That wasn't so hard. 

“There,” Weiss breathed, “How was-"

Blake grabbed Weiss's head and pressed their mouths together. Her hands ran down the back of Weiss's head and back and all down her shoulders and back, pressing Weiss's body against hers.

Weiss's hands trembled, uncertain, but she ended up gripping Blake's shoulder- oh gosh it was better than she'd imagined- tensing her hands around Blake's muscles every time Blake flicked out her tongue or nibbled Weiss's lips or moaned against Weiss's jaw.

Weiss ran her hands up the size of Blake's face, ending at the Faunus's ears- Blake let out a purr as Weiss ran her fingers through them, purring deeply enough to send vibrations through both their bodies.

Blake pushed Weiss down and bumped her nose against Weiss's collarbones, growling before opening her mouth and pressing her teeth on Weiss's bare skin. She nibbled playfully until Weiss got too ticklish or maybe too aroused and reflexively pushed Blake's face away.

Eventually Weiss's world stopped spinning and she found herself panting, nestled in Blake's arms, feeling Blake's body amid the cold air. Schnees preferred the cold, but one Schnee this night found a pleasant warmth she could be completely comfortable in.

From this distance, Weiss could nuzzle Blake's shoulder with her face; Blake tensed her whole arm teasingly. Weiss had wanted to do that for what felt like way too long, and now she was looking at other parts of Blake to be her favorite. 

“So do you like me?" Blake whispered. " _Like like_ me, I mean."

"I-" Weiss said, pausing her nuzzles. "I'd told myself that I shouldn't consider the possibility. Not just for you; I'd spent most of my life being told to repress that side of me-"

Weiss took a breath. Blake tried to keep her face neutral. 

"S-so it's not a no," Weiss said, "But I think we should get to know each other more, in a romantic context. I'm certainly open to the possibility, so we should try some stuff, I think." 

Blake tilted her head to the side. Her ears were flat against her hair.

“So how about a date, then?” Weiss said, “A _real_ date this time. We can go get tea tomorrow, at lunch?"

Blake smiled gently and kept her face just on the happy side of neutral, but her ears went haywire in excitement. “I'd like that," She managed to say.

Blake stood up, and Weiss did too.

Blake was less tall than Weiss recalled- Weiss looked down- and tried not to stare at Blake's breasts on the way-

“What happened to your shoes?” Weiss said to Blake's bare feet.

Blake shrugged.

“Well!” Weiss said, “I guess I'll have to carry you.”

Weiss handed Blake their shark and tucked an arm under Blake's knees and the other around her shoulders and hefted up the larger girl into carrying position.

Hrrrk-

“Are you sure?” Blake said, her eyes wide and her arms draped around Weiss's neck, “Not that this isn't super romantic, but-"

“Schnee's-,” Weiss huffed, managing a single step along the roof-tiles, “-don't show weakness-” Weiss took another step.

Blake rubbed her nose Weiss's neck and purred and left a soft peck where she did, and suddenly Weiss found the strength to manifest an ice slide off the roof. Blake made all the impressed sounds as Weiss hefted her back to where they last left Weiss's sister.

The pair of them came upon Winter, who was currently chatting up Ruby. 

Weiss put Blake down as they approached, and Blake took Weiss's hand her her own as they walked. Weiss definitely wasn't nervous or anything. 

She'd spent the whole day trying to avoid blowing up at her sister, and she'd just- was it only an hour ago?- failed at it. Would Winter be mad? 

But Winter looked surprisingly mellow when she waved them over.

“Yeah,” Ruby finished, “Sometimes sisters can be tough. I'll have to tell you about this one birthday party my sister and I went to sometime. But you love each other, no matter what." 

Winter nodded like a sage. She turned to the arrivals.

"Oh hey Weiss, Blake," Winter said. "You remember the lady who sang that song at the restaurant?" she gestured to introduce Ruby, "I managed to get her autograph."

“Why yes, mysterious strangers,” Ruby bowed theatrically around her scythe, “It is nice to meet you.”

 "O-oh, hello," Weiss said lamely. Blake stifled a chuckle. 

"Alas, this appears to be my cue to leave," Ruby said. She disappeared. 

 Weiss took a breath. For some reason, the prospect of Winter's discontent didn't seem as terrible as it did this morning. 

“Winter,” Weiss said as she quickly brushed off her dress. She made sure her posture was perfect and her hair was perfect and diction and eye contact were perfect.

Winter assumed perfect military posture. “Weiss.” she stated.

Weiss breathed in. She squeezed Blake's hand and didn't feel intimidated anymore. “I feel you put too much stock in money, that you are too absorbed with yourself, and that you have systemic, unfounded biases against Faunus that you use to attribute general trends to specific individuals.” Weiss said. “I also feel this is negatively impacting your relationships with others, especially in regard to myself and Blake, and I must insist you attempt to ameliorate these personality flaws." 

Winter scrunched her mouth to the side, and then nodded. “Very well. I shall try the introspecting thing," she nodded again, " _contingent_ that you as well attempt to take other people's feelings into consideration, especially in regards to your girlfriend." 

Weiss furrowed her brow- like Winter had any right to criticize- but Weiss figured she should at least be happy that Winter was willing to listen to her. Was that all it took- to just tell her directly?

"Agreed," Weiss said. 

Winter held out her hand for a hand shake but Weiss held her arms out for a hug.

Winter then smiled and held her arms out to return the hug, but Weiss had instantly pulled her arms down to her side and held a hand out stiff to shake.

They ended up twisted in an position with a brisk handshake with one set of hands while lightly patting each others backs with their free hands, smiling awkwardly.

The stepped back from each other.

“Farewell, Winter,” Weiss said. “It was nice to see you.” She meant it.

“Farewell, Weiss, and likewise,” Winter smiled and turned to Blake. "It was nice to meet you, Blake. I hope this is not the last time we see each other."

"Oh, I should hope not either." She shot a sultry glance to Weiss. She turned back to Winter, back in full cutesy mode, and curtsied. "Thanks for taking us to see all the little fishies."

Winter coughed into her fist. "O-of course. Anytime." Winter turned to Weiss and had a little trouble saying the last part. "And for what it's worth, Weiss, I'm impressed by how far you've come since last year. I-" she only stumbled a little bit, "-I'm proud of you."

“T-thank you,” Weiss said to her hands.

Winter held out a plastic bag. "And did you still want these sex supplies?"

Blake hid her mouth under her fingertips. Weiss blushed. "Yes," she said. 

 

 

 

They got back to their dorm room, arm in arm.  At night, it seemed more like a home. It was warm, and it was quiet, and the light was dim enough to be comforting. There was no sign of Ruby or Yang.

"So were you  _that_ eager to get started on the new Schnee heir?" Blake gestured to the plastic bag Winter had given her sister. 

Weiss's ears rang with her heartbeat. "First of all, I wouldn't be using contraception if I was, and second of all, we'd need to get some lab technicians-"

"But we could practice," Blake fluttered her eyelids. 

Weiss lost all motor control and her head flopped onto its side. She shook her head and eventually regained her speech. "I-if you want to? B-but maybe we should go on our date first-"

Blake laughed. "Whatever you're most comfortable with, Weiss-y-poo." Blake hugged Weiss and rubbed the hieress's head. "But if you're not going to use them, maybe you should hide them before Ruby or Yang see them."

“Oh crap! Ruby and Yang! They'll tease us endlessly for this!” Weiss said. She turned to the taller girl. 'Blake, I need you to pretend _not_ to be my girlfriend-"

“Ohohohoho!” Ruby said, appearing between them in a petaled flurry and digging through the plastic bag. Where did she even come from? “ _Extra_ large dental dams? And _antibacterial_ lube? Weiss,” Ruby intoned facetiously, “I didn't realize it was so horrid, the state of your-”

“Ruby!” Weiss said, her face growing red.

Ruby smiled. “Or perhaps, you were intending to do it someplace  _dirty-"_

"RUBY!" Blake said, stifling a growing smile.

Ruby laughed her hallow laugh. "Hey, I got you two together. I think I've earned a little teasing."

"I'm pretty sure it was our little heart-to-heart that got us together," Blake seethed.

"Well I led Weiss to you after you ran away-"  

“So it _wasn't_ actually your song that got them together,” Yang said, walking in the door just then. Yang was smiling wickedly, the same way Ruby usually did, reminding Weiss that, yes, the two of them did share at least some of their genetics.

Ruby shrank. “N-no, but it's basically the same thing-"

“I seem to recall a Sister Trust Pact,” Yang said in a sing song voice. 

"But-" Ruby's face fell.

Yang grabbed Ruby by the cloak and pulled her sister out of the room. “Now let's go feed you some broccoli.”

“No!” Ruby wailed helplessly, “Noooooooooooooooooooooo!”

The door to the room closed and Ruby's unheeded cries for mercy faded out of earshot. 

Weiss was a little busy trying to process what happened. Blake then stepped into Weiss's personal space and hugged Weiss close to her chest. Blake pulled Weiss's head down to sniff the shorter girl's hair, giving Weiss a face full of cleavage as she did. Weiss squeaked, but didn't feel guilty about enjoying it this time. 

 “So it looks like our roommates are gone for at least a little while. Might even take them all night.” Blake said to Weiss's neck in between planting little smooches down Weiss's exposed skin.

"W-what do you mean when you say that?" Weiss looked up nervously. 

“How about we make out,” Blake purred as she nuzzled Weiss's below the ear, “And then we'll see how you feel after that?”

Weiss blushed and nodded.

Right before Blake pushed Weiss down on her bed, she leaned towards the nightstand and turned the plush shark to face the other way.

 

 

 

 


End file.
